Marc Burrows, (he, him), MSW, LMSW, CPSS, is the founder and Executive Director of Challenges Inc.
Margie Stevens, (she/her), PhD, CRC, is a research assistant professor at the USC School of Medicine-Greenville, and Education and Mentoring Director at the Prisma Health Addiction Medicine Center. Her research interests include reducing overdoses and the spread of infectious disease. Dr. Stevens has provided Harm Reduction academic detailing for healthcare professionals and has worked to expand access to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) by implementing OUD curriculum for medical students.
Kenric Ware, (he, him), PharmD, is a pharmacist who serves on the Needs Assessment Committee arm of the South Carolina HIV Planning Council. Locally, Kenric serves as a Black HIV Epidemic ambassador on behalf of the Black AIDS Institute to Voorhees University. Nationally, Kenric contributes to the American Academy of HIV Medicine (AAHIVM) as an item writer for credentialing examinations; a member of the Academy Council for Racial Equity; along with membership in its Southeastern Regional Steering Committee and Public Policy Committee.
Darin Thomas, (he/him), MSW, MBA, is a social worker by profession, and is presently serving as a strategic project director for a healthcare provider that specializes in services for individuals with substance use disorders. Passionate about advocating for marginalized community members, he values harm reduction services in that they provide opportunities to save lives and connect individuals with consumer-centered resources.
Raymond Velazquez, (he, him), NCCPSS, has a rich history as a dedicated advocate within the LGBTQIA+, HIV, Prevention, and Harm Reduction communities spanning over 7 years. Living with HIV and navigating the path of recovery, Raymond brings a distinctive perspective and profound empathy to his advocacy efforts. As a seasoned advocate in HIV and Harm Reduction, and drawing on years of lived experience, Raymond's mission revolves around serving marginalized drug-users, and BIPOC communities.
Alexis Lindner, (she/her), is a dedicated case manager with a passion for social justice and empowering marginalized communities. Her focus is advocating for individuals caught in the criminal justice system and believes in meeting people where they’re at to better assist in improving health outcomes.
Leigh Huckins, (she/her), CPSS, is a Population Health Manager and person with lived experience with SUD. She is a strong believer in harm reduction and longtime supporter of Challenges Inc. Leigh takes great pride in her board position as she has seen the positive effects of this work in her community.
Coming from lived experience, our founder Marc Burrows wanted to find a new way of working with people who use drugs, as there seemed to be a disconnect between addiction treatment and public health in South Carolina. The health and well-being of injection drug users was not a focus in our states' "addiction treatment landscape". In fact, our state's drug and alcohol department was even quoted saying "advocating for needle exchanges is not an agency priority".
Marc found this to be odd, considering People Who Inject Drugs make up the largest group of new Hep C cases and are associated with other bacterial and infectious diseases as well. Why was our addiction treatment and prevention industry not including drug user health in its work?
In an attempt to offer a solution, Marc started acquiring supplies like condoms, syringes, and other items used to reduce the spread of disease, and began giving them to his clients struggling in treatment and handing them out from the trunk of his car. Instantly, he saw the effect this had on the people he was serving, since being met as someone who injects drugs with no judgement, discrimination, or coercion is not common. Every interaction felt magical and life changing for both sides. Thus, the first Syringe Services Program in South Carolina was born.
Since then, the goal of Challenges Inc has remained the same: stop the spread of preventable and unnecessary infectious diseases and other healthcare issues by providing evidence-based harm reduction tools to People Who Use Drugs in South Carolina.
Today, our services include much more than our humble beginnings. We provide testing for HIV and Hepatitis C with linkage to free treatment for both. We offer referrals to substance use disorder treatment and help individuals navigate the treatment system, and more recently have added a low barrier MOUD option through a wonderful partnership with like minded professionals. We provide low barrier access to naloxone and give out hundreds of doses of the life saving drug every month, and we do it all from a beautiful little bus. Check it out on the Locations page. Maybe most importantly though, we are a creator of change for how our community views People Who Use Drugs, and we hope to continue improving the lives of the people we serve and health outcomes for our community at large.
At Challenges Inc., our mission is to reduce the damage caused by the War on Drugs so that people who use drugs can live safe, healthy lives in our community.
Our vision is a society in which individuals are not criminalized based on the substances they choose to consume.